Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released to theaters on November 22, 1991 by Walt Disney Pictures. The story is based on the fairy tale La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, who was uncredited in the English version of the film but credited in the French version as writer of the novel. The movie also uses some ideas derived from the 1946 French film. It centers around a prince who is transformed into a Beast and the beautiful young woman whom he imprisons in his castle. This is the universally acclaimed thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It is widely considered one of Disney's greatest animated films, and is the first of only two animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
